Ten of the best from Perry’s decade of dominance

That Ellyse Perry was named the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint ICC Female Cricketer of the Decade would have come as no surprise to those familiar with the Australia allrounder’s feats in international cricket across the last 10 years.

She beat a strong field of candidates including her captain Meg Lanning for the award, recognised for her dominant and remarkably consistent performances with both bat and ball.

With performances taken into account for a period beginning on January 1, 2011, it was a decade that saw Perry claim three Belinda Clark Awards as Australia's top player, two ICC Cricketer of the Year awards, all while evolving herself from a young fast bowler into one of the game’s most accomplished allrounders.

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Perry's Decade of Dominance

Tests: 6 | Runs: 573 | Ave: 114.60 | HS: 213* | 100s: 2 | 50s: 2  Wickets: 26 | Ave: 16.73 | BBI: 6-32 | 5w: 2

ODIs: 73 | Runs: 2621 | Ave: 68.97 | HS: 112* | 100s: 2 | 50s: 26 | Wickets: 98 | Ave: 25.09 | BBI: 7-22 | Eco: 4.33 | 5w: 2

T20Is: 100 | Runs: 1155 | Ave: 30.39 | HS: 60* | 50s: 4 | Wickets: 89 | Ave: 20.64 | BBI: 4-12 | Eco: 5.95 | 4w: 3

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Choosing just 10 performances from 179 highlights-filled matches is no easy task, but those listed below either marked personal milestones, broke records or helped Australia to significant victories – and in some cases, achieved all three.

Ten of the best from Ellyse Perry 

February 17, 2013: 3-19 & 25no v West Indies

ODI World Cup Final, Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Image Id: 07C6B0F4A1DE42829D396CE0FD54F650 Image Caption: Perry celebrates a wicket during the 2013 World Cup final // Getty

Perry's courage and commitment to the cause was on full display when she bowled through the pain of stress fractures in her left ankle to help Australia seal an ODI World Cup victory.

The young quick had missed a much of the tournament due to injury, but with a World Cup trophy on the line, Australia rolled the dice on her fitness.

While batting, there was no cause for concern as she hit two fours and a six in a handy cameo of 25 from 22 not out, helping her team to 7-259 from their 50 overs.

When Megan Schutt, Julie Hunter and Lisa Sthalekar all failed to find a way to break up the Windies’ opening pair, reaching 32 without loss, captain Jodie Fields threw the ball to Perry.

Hearts in mouths, her teammates then watched as she aborted her first delivery before reaching the crease, pulling up and limping.

Her second attempt produced the same result. But Perry refused to leave the field and made a third attempt, this time, delivering the ball.

Her sixth ball got the wicket, with Kycia Knight trapped lbw. Her 10th had Stafanie Taylor caught and bowled. Her 15th removed Natasha McLean. Suddenly, the Windies were 3-41 and Perry had figures of 3-2 from three overs.

The Windies never recovered and somehow, Perry not only stayed on the field for the entire 43.1 overs it took for Australia to seal victory, she also bowled out her 10 overs for figures of 3-19. After the final, she was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her ankle and later underwent surgery to remove bone spurs. 

January 26, 2014: 90no v England

Third Ashes ODI, Blundstone Arena

Image Id: 86C8271AE9AA4D48A413A4A957BA2286 Image Caption: Perry celebrates hitting the winnings runs in Hobart // Getty

One of the defining batting innings of Perry’s career came on Australia Day 2014 in Hobart, when her 90 not out kept Australia’s multi-format Ashes hopes alive.

At 23, Perry was still firmly viewed as a fast bowler and had only recently moved into Australia’s top five, but had shown promising signs scoring an unbeaten 65 in the first of the three Ashes one-dayers.

Australia needed to chase a hefty 268 in the final ODI to stay in the series and were in serious trouble at 6-199 when Erin Osborne joined Perry in the middle.

Perry held her nerve to post her highest ever international score and just the third half-century of her 60-game ODI career, as she and Osborne steered Australia to victory with three balls to spare.

Australia went on to lose the Ashes, but Perry’s unbeaten 90 from 95 deliveries would spark a remarkable run of form as she scored 16 half-centuries in the space of 21 innings, cementing her status as one of the world’s top allrounders.

April 6, 2014: 2-13 & 31no v England

T20 World Cup Final, Dhaka

After a close final between the same two teams in the 2012 edition of the tournament, another nail-biter was expected in 2014.

But what played out was something else entirely.

After sending England in to bat – against the trend of the tournament, where setting a target was in vogue – Perry and Sarah Coyte bowled superbly to restrict England to a paltry 8-105, with Perry taking the key wickets of Lydia Greenway and Amy Jones.

Small targets can be tricky and when Elyse Villani and Jess Jonassen fell early, a wobble could have set in, but Perry joined her captain Meg Lanning in a 60-run stand before hitting the winning runs to seal the title with 4.5 overs to spare.

August 11-14, 2015: 6-32 v England

Ashes Test, St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury

Image Id: 7DDBD2BDAA7844E38245E1051E5DCFC6 Image Caption: Perry rattled through England with a six-fer // Getty

Australia had not won a Test on foreign soil since 2001, but stunning display from Perry put an end to that drought in the one-off Ashes Test in 2015.

The tourists had set England a target of 263, declaring during the morning session of the final day, and after Sarah Coyte found the initial breakthrough, trapping England opener Heather Knight lbw for five, first-drop Sarah Taylor dragged Perry on to off-stump to depart without scoring.

England resumed the afternoon session on 2-16 but quickly collapsed to be 5-29 as Perry had captain Charlotte Edwards caught behind for one, and Megan Schutt removed Lauren Winfield-Hill and Natalie Sciver.

Lydia Greenway (16) and Georgia Elwiss (46) dug in – Greenway’s first 100 deliveries consisted of 94 dot balls – and their dogged wall of defiance threatened to spoil Australia’s hopes of a drought-breaking victory.

But like she did after lunch, Perry struck early after the tea interval, bowling Greenway with a bouncer that failed to live up to its name, keeping low and crashing into leg-stump.

She doubled-up next ball, bowling Laura Marsh, as the rampant visitors then ripped through the tail to bowl England out for 101, Perry finishing with 6-32. Crucially, the Test win left Australia requiring just one win from three T20Is to reclaim the multi-format Ashes, a feat they went on to achieve.

January 31, 2016: 55* & 4-12 v India

Third T20I, Sydney Cricket Ground

This was a dead rubber in a series already sensationally claimed by India, but Perry’s all-round individual performance at the SCG was significant; it remains the only occasion a player has scored a half-century and taken four wickets in a women’s T20I.

With Australia batting first following back-to-back defeats, Perry anchored her team’s innings and escalated late, taking 24 from the final two overs to finish unbeaten on 55 from 41 deliveries.

Then, when the game was evenly poised with India 3-92 chasing 137, Perry re-entered the attack, picking up four wickets in 14 balls to seal victory.

The match also coincided with the end of Perry’s dual sporting careers – through the 2015-16 summer she had also held a contract with W-League club Sydney FC, playing occasional matches when they did not clash with her cricket. That day at the SCG, Sydney FC played a grand final and had provisionally named Perry in their squad, but the allrounder stuck to her commitment to the T20 series – and thereafter, cricket was her full-time profession.

November 9-12, 2017: 213no v England

Ashes Test, North Sydney Oval

Image Id: 5EEF4A92F1D74B319A4A7B3D680D514D Image Caption: A maiden century for Ellyse Perry // Getty

Perry entered the inaugural women’s Day-Night Test without an international century to her name. She more than made up for it over the days that followed to etch her name in the history books.

Not content to simply bring up her maiden Test ton, embracing close mate Alyssa Healy after reaching the magical milestone, Perry batted on, and on, and on.

Across more than four sessions of batting, she slowly and expertly dismantled England's bowlers and as the third day of play drew to a close, it appeared the only thing that would stop her from scoring a double would be a lack of partners.

Perry was on 193 not out when the ninth wicket fell, before a single put her within six runs of a double-century and she decided to take on the off-spin of Laura Marsh and target the vacant mid-wicket boundary to bring up the milestone with one lusty blow.

It appeared she had achieved exactly that as the crowd roared, convincing everyone – Perry included – she had cleared the rope.

The celebrations were briefly put on hold when she was informed that the ball had in fact fallen just short of the rope, leaving her with two runs still to get, but Perry would not be denied, reaching 200 with a boundary three balls later.

Her 213no was the highest Test score by an Australian woman, and the third highest in women's Tests. 

February 24, 2019: 107no & 1-15 v New Zealand

Second Rose Bowl ODI, Karen Rolton Oval, Adelaide

Image Id: 5C15508BAF1A4EDC8C959365CF2DCDB7 Image Caption: Perry raises the bat at Karen Rolton Oval // Getty

Perry continued a trend of reaching major milestones in dramatic fashion when she hit her first ODI century against New Zealand in Adelaide.

Having executed the anchor role with aplomb to steer Australia out of a spot of bother, the allrounder was unbeaten on 95 heading into the final over of the innings.

Perry had been in this situation before; having finished not out in the 90s on three previous occasions in ODIs and dismissed for an even 90 on another.

It looked as though she may once again fall short when she hit two singles – batting partner Delissa Kimmince duly returning the strike each time – to sit on 97 with two balls remaining.

Searching for a boundary, Perry went big on the second last ball of the innings, bringing up her century in bizarre circumstances when she was dropped on the rope by Anna Peterson.

The ball then rolled to the boundary, to see the Australian to celebrate three figures in an ODI for the first time. Perry then struck a six to put the finishing flourish on a fine 107 from 110 deliveries.

The star allrounder was again in the thick of the action following the change of innings, bowling New Zealand star Suzie Bates in the sixth over.

July 7, 2019: 7-22 v England

Third Ashes ODI, St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury

Image Id: 148AE3B349BE4800ABA24A33D2AE2E07 Image Caption: Perry celebrates another memorable day in Canterbury // Getty

The best-ever ODI spell produced by an Australian woman was the culmination of months of planning combined with the tireless worth ethic of the game’s greatest allrounder – and its most relentless perfectionist.

In 10 devastating overs, Perry left England shell shocked as she bagged 7-22 on a sunny afternoon in Canterbury, sealing a victory that would lay the foundation for Australia’s most convincing series win since the introduction of the multi-format women’s Ashes.

When Perry dismissed England opener Amy Jones for a duck with her third ball of the day, those watching had an inkling his star allrounder might be in for a day out, but few could have predicted the carnage that would follow.

Perry tore through England at St Lawrence Ground, putting on a ruthless clinic that saw the hosts bowled out for a paltry 75 and eclipsing her country’s previous best one-day figures of 7-24, held by legendary allrounder Shelley Nitschke.

July 18-21, 2019: 116 & 76no v England

Ashes Test, County Ground, Taunton

Image Id: 9157AD31035B459299138978522937D7 Image Caption: Perry celebrates her Taunton ton // Getty

Throughout the close to six hours she spent at the crease in Taunton, Perry was the picture of unflappable concentration.

A returned to her favourite format was fully embraced by the allrounder, who employed her textbook technique to perfection to clinically bring up her second Test century.

Perry denied the England attack through the afternoon session on day one, with bowlers Katherine Brunt, Anya Shrubsole, Sophie Ecclestone, Kirstie Gordon and Laura Marsh all searching fruitlessly for the chink in the allrounder’s armour, first with old ball then with new.

Rain had been expected to delay the start of play on Friday but it seemed not even the weather Gods were going to stand between Perry and her nirvana: standing in the middle, bat in hand, wearing Test whites, eyeing a hundred.

Resuming on 84 on day two, it was a misfield and a dashed single that sealed back-to-back Ashes Test centuries for Perry, coming a full 615 days after she first reached triple figures in the whites.

A misfield handed her the run she needed to bring up a magical century – Perry, ever low-key, simply smiling, removing her helping and waving her bat at a small, but appreciative Somerset crowd that included her parents Mark and Kathy Perry.

At the moment she raised the bat at Taunton’s County Ground, she had scored 313 runs from 620 balls without being dismissed in Test cricket, following on from that famous unbeaten 213-run epic in Sydney.

Her a chanceless innings only ended out of the blue on 116 when she mishit a Laura Marsh full toss directly to England captain Heather Knight.

Back-to-back hundreds beckoned in Australia's second dig when Perry brought up another half-century, but time ran out as the allrounder was left unbeaten on 76 when the match was declared a draw. 

September 8, 2019: 112no & 1-5 v West Indies

Second ODI, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua

Image Id: 7F6AC73CAB5A4BD4B248F00F02EA9B5E Image Caption: Ellyse Perry reaches triple figures in Antigua // cricket.com.au

For a player who took a decade to reach triple figures for the first time in international cricket, Perry proved she had developed a taste for big scores when she scored her unbeaten 112 at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, her third century of the calendar year.

While Australia’s opponents were weakened by injuries that had left them without a host of their best players, Perry’s performance was proof she is one of the premier athletes in the country.

While batting, she occupied the crease for 40.1 overs in oppressive heat and humidity – conditions that saw her teammate Beth Mooney retire due to heat exhaustion – before backing up by taking the new ball and capturing the first Windies wicket in her second over.

In all, the only time Perry appeared flustered was when she was called upon to do a last-minute cap presentation for Sydney Sixers teammate Erin Burns, who was a sudden addition to the Australia XI when captain Lanning was ruled out due to back spasms just minutes before the coin toss.